WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO USING FAKE IDENTITIES TO RECEIVE TAX REFUNDS

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Tracey Fergerson pleaded guilty today before Magistrate Judge Charles S. Coody in Montgomery, Ala., to conspiring to defraud the United States government. Fergerson and a co-defendant were charged by a grand jury in a 22-count indictment that was unsealed on March 30, 2011.

According to the plea agreement, Fergerson participated in a tax fraud scheme that was perpetrated through a tax return preparation business called Fast Tax Cash in Montgomery. From 2005 through 2008, Fergerson recruited customers for Fast Tax Cash and coached them to provide false information in order to fraudulently increase their tax refund amounts. Fergerson also admitted that she improperly obtained personal information, including names and Social Security numbers, and used that personal information to have false tax returns prepared at Fast Tax Cash. Fergerson admitted that she would receive payment for the false refunds that were obtained.

A sentencing date has not yet been set. Fergerson faces a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Michael Boteler, Charles M. Edgar Jr. and Michelle M. Petersen of the Justice Department's Tax Division."

TAX PREPARER PLEADS GUILTY TO MAKING FRAUDULANT DEDUCTIONS

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Monday, December 12, 2011
“Houston-Area Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty
WASHINGTON – Eddye Lovely of Tomball, Texas, pleaded guilty today to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Lovely appeared before U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas in Houston.
According to the plea agreement, Lovely owned and operated a Houston return preparation business, called “The Tax Master,” at which he prepared false income tax returns that included certain false Schedule A itemized deductions that the client did not make and fraudulent Schedule C business losses that the clients did not operate.
After Lovely was indicted in April 2011 on 14 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, he persisted in the preparation of false tax returns despite a court order requiring him not to prepare any tax returns while on release in the case. According to the plea agreement, after his release, Lovely aided and assisted in the preparation of materially false 2010 tax returns for two additional clients. These tax returns were materially false in that they featured fabricated Schedule C losses for businesses that the taxpayers did not own or operate, as well as false or inflated Schedule A deductions for charitable contributions and/or job search costs.
The tax loss associated with the three counts to which Lovely pleaded guilty is $74,964. Lovely faces a maximum prison sentence of nine years and a fine of up to $750,000. Judge Atlas set sentencing for Feb. 29, 2012.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Tracy Gostyla and Kathryn Ward of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.”

INSURANCE SALESMAN ARRESTED FOR TAX EVASION

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Ohio Insurance Salesman Arrested on Tax Charges
“WASHINGTON - William A. Herder of Mifflin Township, Ohio, was arrested today on federal tax charges, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. On Nov. 9, 2011, a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland returned an indictment against Herder, charging him with corruptly endeavoring to impair and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws, tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.
According to the indictment, Herder, an insurance salesman, has not filed a timely or valid tax return in more than a decade. For the 2000 tax year, Herder allegedly filed a tax return on which he falsely claimed that he had not earned any income. Herder failed to file any tax returns for the 2001-2009 tax years, despite receiving numerous warnings and notices from the IRS.
The indictment further alleges that, to prevent the IRS from collecting his unpaid taxes, Herder attempted to conceal his assets and income. In 2003, Herder allegedly transferred title to his house to a fake foundation he established in Utah called the “Mentor Foundation.” Herder cashed out an Individual Retirement Account and a life insurance policy to further frustrate IRS collections activity. Herder also allegedly attempted to use a fake financial instrument to pay his taxes for the years 2000-2002 as well as a civil penalty that the IRS assessed against him for the year 2000.
In addition to failing to file valid tax returns and hiding his assets from the IRS, the indictment alleges, Herder submitted numerous obstructive letters and documents to the IRS and the companies for whom he sold insurance in an effort to prevent the IRS from assessing and collecting his taxes. In these letters, Herder falsely claimed, among other things, that the tax laws were not applicable to him.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind and Sean R. Delaney of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
An indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct and is not evidence of guilt. A person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

BUSINESSMAN GETS 5 YEARS IN PRISON FOR FRAUD AND TAX EVASION

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

“Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Former Pittsfield, Mass., Entrepreneur Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison for Financial Crimes
WASHINGTON - A former Pittsfield man was sentenced late yesterday in federal court for his role in a series of frauds and attempts to avoid paying taxes, as well as lying to federal authorities and financial institutions about his illegal activities, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz for the District of Massachusetts; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) - Boston Field Office; and Theodore L. Doherty III, Special Agent in Charge of the New England Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG).
Michael J. Armitage , 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 66 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Armitage was ordered to forfeit $24,010, and pay restitution of $1.5 million to the IRS; $191,819 to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue; $4.2 million to the Federal Transit Administration; and $215,138 to the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority. Armitage pleaded guilty in October 2010 to three counts of false statements to a federally insured financial institution; three counts of tax evasion; one count of false statements to a federal official; one count of conspiracy, one count of false claims; and one count of endeavoring to obstruct a federal audit.
According to court documents, Armitage did not file a single personal federal income tax return between 1993 and 2006 in spite of receiving millions of dollars in income from sources such as Power Development Co. LLC (PDC), an energy company that he founded and controlled. In addition, in 1999, Armitage was required to repay more than $1 million to PDC for money that he had misappropriated, including approximately $340,000 in checks that he had written to himself but fraudulently mislabeled in PDC’s check register as payable to others.
From February 2001 to April 24, 2006, Armitage executed a scheme to defraud United Bank, located in West Springfield, Mass., in connection with three separate loans. According to court documents, Armitage used or submitted various false or fraudulent documents to perpetrate these fraud schemes, including a 2001 personal financial statement that omitted any debts owed to the IRS or to PDC and on which he claimed that his taxes were settled through 1999, and a 2001 personal federal income tax return that he signed and dated but never filed with the IRS.
In addition, between Aug. 20, 2001, and Oct. 18, 2006, Armitage attempted to avoid paying taxes that had been previously assessed for three separate years: 1995, 1996 and 1998. Armitage engaged in several efforts to avoid paying taxes for these years. He withheld material information from his tax representative. He directed his tax representative to contact an IRS Revenue Officer and claim that delinquent returns would be filed, when he did not intend to provide the tax representative with the information to prepare the returns. He made materially false statements to an IRS Revenue Officer. He purposely withdrew funds recently deposited in his bank account to maintain a low account balance. He diverted payments due to himself to other accounts, including his wife’s bank account, the bank account of another company that he controlled, and an escrow account belonging to another person. Finally, he used funds from an account that he controlled to pay credit cards issued in his name, all to conceal income and avoid collection.
In another scheme, from Nov. 30, 2004, through at least July 5, 2006, Armitage conspired with co-defendants EV Worldwide LLC (EVW), a company that he controlled, and Christopher Willson, another executive of EVW, to defraud the Federal Transit Administration. According to court documents, Armitage and his co-defendants submitted false, fraudulent and fictitious invoices for payment through the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority as part of a federal research grant into an electric bus and battery project. On these invoices, Armitage falsely claimed that the Federal Transit Administration’s share of the project costs did not exceed the maximum 50 percent. He also sought reimbursement for fictitious, inflated or ineligible expenses, and/or falsely claimed that certain milestone achievements warranted payment of EVW Worldwide’s claimed expenses. Through the fraudulent invoices, Armitage, Willson and EVW received $703,097 to which they were not entitled, and used this money for their own benefit as well as the benefit of another company that Armitage and Willson founded in Canada. After the Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General commenced an audit in 2006, Armitage repeatedly lied to and attempted to obstruct the auditors.
Willson, who was convicted at trial in June 2011 on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud and four counts of false claims, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 29, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.
The case investigated by IRS-CI and the DOT-OIG. The Defense Contract Audit Agency also assisted with the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow for the District of Massachusetts; Senior Litigation Counsel William M. Welch II of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Trial Attorneys Kevin Driscoll and Edward J. Loya Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.”

CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO PAYING EMPLOYEES OFF- THE- BOOKS

Because of the tight economy many workers overlook some of the anomalies in their pay stubs in order to keep their jobs. Paying employees off-the-books to avoid paying taxes is one way that many companies are cutting corners. The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Miami Construction Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud
WASHINGTON – Braynert Marquez of Miami pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false employment tax return, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the plea agreement and information, Marquez operated and at least partly owned two Dade County, Fla., construction companies known as Bema Block Corp. and Bema Group Corp. From 2004 through 2007, Marquez paid employees of Bema Block and Bema Group “off-the-books” wages in two different ways. First, from late 2006 through 2007, Marquez obtained cash to pay his employees by causing Bema Block and Bema Group corporate checks to be issued to DJ Construction Group Inc. DJ Construction was a shell corporation created by others for use in the check cashing scheme. DJ Construction did no actual work for either Bema Block or Bema Group.

Marquez caused the checks to be cashed at a check cashing store that was aware of the arrangement. Marquez then caused his employees to be paid with the cash from the checks. In 2007, $698,848.82 in Bema Block and Bema Group checks were written to DJ Construction and cashed to pay employees. Marquez failed to report the cash wages on quarterly employment tax returns and failed to withhold and pay over employment taxes on the wages.
According to court documents, Marquez also caused certain Bema Block employees to be paid with two checks: one payroll check from which the employment taxes were withheld and an additional check with no taxes withheld. The additional check was issued not from Bema Block, but from one of two corporations, MFCM Group Corporation and MJMF Group Corporation, created by Marquez and others solely for this purpose. From 2004 through 2007, Marquez caused approximately $664,535 in checks from MFCM Group and at least $469,049 in checks from MJMF Group to be written to Bema Block employees. Marquez failed to report the wages paid by these checks on quarterly employment tax returns and failed to withhold and pay over employment taxes on the wages.

According to the information, Marquez willfully aided and assisted in the preparation and presentation to the IRS of a false Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return (IRS Form 941) for the calendar quarter ending Dec. 31, 2010. The tax return falsely and fraudulently reported $130,021 in wages, tips and other compensation by Bema Group Corp. to its employees that quarter.

The court scheduled sentencing for Nov. 3, 2011. Marquez faces a maximum of three years in prison, a maximum of one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. As part of his plea agreement, Marquez agreed that the United States suffered an employment tax loss of at least $200,000 but not more than $400,000 and he agreed to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $280,362.”